MovieChat Forums > El Topo (1971) Discussion > any other Holy Mountain fans who find it...

any other Holy Mountain fans who find it hard to like El Topo?

posted 9 years ago by moilane
4 replies | jump to latest

I first saw El Topo on video in the 80's, didn't like it but wanted to reserve final judgment until I saw it properly on the silver screen. Which I just did - but still can't appreciate any other aspect than the visual side of the film.

I'm sort of amazed that the user rating here for El Topo is all of 7.5, all the while only 7.8 for The Holy Mountain - which I perceive as having perfected everything Jodo had been trying to achieve all along. Me, I gave them 5/10 and 9/10 respectively.

All of which sort of brings us to my dilemma. Having read many posts in this forum by El Topo's detractors - whose reasoning leads me to believe they wouldn't like The Holy Mountain either - and its champions, who seem to like El Topo for the exact same things that make The Holy Mountain so great.

So my question is... Is the huge difference in class between the two films all in my head? ;)

[–] OldSamVimes 9 years ago

So my question is... Is the huge difference in class between the two films all in my head? ;)

Yup.

Glad to be of service.

🌊🌊🌊

[–] moilane 9 years ago

Thanks for your effort I guess - but to actually be "of service", you could've done with a bit of elaboration as well, since I tried that path to begin with. Oh well, maybe next time then.

Anyone else?

[–] Blitzerg 9 years ago

I watched The Holy Mountain for the first time a couple weeks ago and it blew me away. My buddy who showed it to me let me know what I was in for before the viewing so I was pretty ready for what was to come. So I decided I needed to see Alejandro's other works and went on to El Topo second. I knew that the film was probably going to be strange and abstract and that's all I was expecting. Just finished it not 15 minutes ago and I have to say I was pretty awed by it as well.

We'll see how I feel about it in a day or two but already I can tell it won't leave as big of an impact as The Holy Mountain did. That film was just insane and I loved it. Loved El Topo just not to the extent as The Holy Mountain.

Very good, very different.

It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.

[–] magnetic-ozone 9 years ago

The Holy Mountain left me speechless - I couldn't get it out of my mind for days. El Topo was far less impactful and, in my opinion, just not as good.